§6-9A-11. Request for advisory opinion; maintaining
confidentiality.
(a) Any governing body or member thereof subject to the
provisions of this article may seek advice and information from the
executive director of the West Virginia Ethics Commission or
request in writing an advisory opinion from the West Virginia
Ethics Commission Committee on Open Governmental Meetings as to
whether an action or proposed action violates the provisions of
this article. The executive director may render oral advice and
information upon request. The committee shall respond in writing
and in an expeditious manner to a request for an advisory opinion.
The opinion is binding on the parties requesting the opinion.

(b) Any governing body or member thereof that seeks an
advisory opinion and acts in good faith reliance on the opinion has
an absolute defense to any civil suit or criminal prosecution for
any action taken in good faith reliance on the opinion unless the
committee was willfully and intentionally misinformed as to the
facts by the body or its representative.

(c) A governing body or member thereof that acts in good faith
reliance on a written advisory opinion sought by another person or
governing body has an absolute defense to any civil suit or
criminal prosecution for any action taken based upon a written
opinion of the West Virginia ethics commission committee, as long
as underlying facts and circumstances surrounding the action were
the same or substantially the same as those being addressed by the written opinion.

(d) The committee and commission may take appropriate action
to protect from disclosure information which is properly shielded
by an exception provided in section four of this article.